Warm Horizons
by Cirrostratus-9
Summary: It's 2 years after the fall of Cocoon, and Hope and Snow are already an item. Their nascent relationship still has several hitches to be worked out, however - can Hope figure out what it is he really wants? Rated M for sexual references and occasional course language. You have been warned...
1. Chapter 1

'Hey Hope, check this out.'

Hope tutted. 'I can't. I need to get dressed. I'm supposed to be going out in…' he checked his watch. 'Nine minutes.'

'You won't be able to get dressed until you come and check this out.'

Hope frowned. He'd only just come out of the shower, was running late as was so often the case for events he didn't want to miss, and didn't have time for Snow's games. He readjusted the towel around his waist and moved into the living room. 'What do you mean? I'm very late, you know. And have you seen my –'

Hope halted at the sight in front of him. His boyfriend, Snow, was standing in the centre of the room, entirely naked – well, technically naked, but for one item of clothing. And his trademark cocky grin. He was wearing that too.

Snow's hands had formed fists and were resting against his hips, superhero style, and his penis was fully erect and pointing towards Hope. Resting along the length of his dick, though, was the pair of black briefs that Hope had been looking for.

'I just saw your clothes all laid out while you were in the shower, and got the idea to compare lengths,' Snow explained, still beaming, seeming pleased with Hope's expression of incredulity. 'Turns out my guess was right! Your waist is so skinny that my dick is actually just as long as your underwear is wide.'

Hope eyed the spectacle in front of him suspiciously. Though he probably wouldn't have believed it if someone had given him this information offhand, the facts in front of him did not lie. Both Hope's waist was so slim and Snow's penis so long that there wasn't even the slightest bit of overhang.

'I think this is more of a reflection on your size than mine,' Hope finally grumbled, retrieving his underwear from where it was hanging and willing himself not to be turned on.

'You're probably not wrong there, kiddo,' Snow replied, and took a few predatory steps closer. 'So, you really have to leave right now? You don't wanna…' He placed a hand on Hope's side. 'Stick around a little longer?'

'Nope sorry gotta go,' Hope stammered, and darted back to his bedroom.

He let out a sigh of relief. Undoing his towel and preparing to don his underwear, he tried to ignore his own erection. Goddamn, it wasn't fair how much of an effect Snow's body could have on him. He was sculpted like one of the mythological demigods he'd seen images of in art history textbooks and on the covers of classic literature back in school. So muscular, so tall… and so well hung. He could be a callous idiot, a vexatious joker, but he was also just so _much_ of a _man_.

Hope hurriedly changed into the rest of his outfit and checked the time again. He'd be on time if he just walked a little quicker than usual down the street. He fluffed up his neckerchief in the mirror, took one last deep breath, and opened the door to the hallway.

He had hoped that Snow had returned to his own room, but no such luck – he was reclining in the living room, still totally naked but no longer standing to attention, and reading a magazine. When he saw Hope make for the front door, however, he tossed his magazine to one side and darted across the room so as to stand in Hope's way.

'I need to go,' sighed Hope, and crossed his arms over his chest.

'Not until you at least give me a kiss first,' said Snow. When Hope looked up, he softened a little to see what appeared to be genuine affection in Snow's eyes.

'Alright,' he conceded, and stood on his tip-toes to kiss Snow on the mouth, less frostily than he'd intended.

'I didn't mean there,' grinned Snow, and Hope sighed again, even more frustrated.

'You're an ass,' he commented with only half the usual shade of humour, and moved around Snow to get to the door. He looked back in to catch one last glimpse of Snow's apologetic – but still amused – facial expression before closing the door behind him and stepping out of the apartment.

 **xxxxx**

 **xxxxx**

Living with Snow Villiers was trying. Initially it had just seemed like the right thing to do; Hope's father had died and Snow had broken up with Serah, and the two of them were alone in Palumpolum, in need of some company and somewhere to stay. Hope had always been physically attracted to Snow – despite trying to deny that for the first few weeks of knowing him, and not really being able to admit his attraction until after he'd truly forgiven him for what had happened to his mother. Even then, however, this was only something he could admit to _himself_. It was still more than a year before he admitted this to the big man himself – but that was another story.

Despite their eventual progression into a full-on romantic relationship, however, Hope had always felt something of a reluctance, something keeping himself guarded. He had no idea what it was. He was sure that Snow had sensed it too, but they had never spoken about it. It continued to trouble Hope, though, and it was in fact one of the main reasons he had organised this liaison with some old friends of his that evening.

The weather had changed without him noticing, this year. He remembered winter very clearly, and as he looked around him now it was clear that spring had sprung – sprung right over its zenith and was now descending into what promised to be a heated summer. He couldn't for the life of him, however, remember any transition between the two. He listened to the birds singing in the evening light, the gentle hum of traffic overhead, and loosened the buttons on his jacket – it was, indeed, warmer than he'd expected.

It was quite a walk to the beach, especially since Hope needed to walk far enough down so that there were no other people around, but he always enjoyed travelling through the docks. The sights and smells were quite unique; he'd never visited anywhere else that matched them. While he was walking, he felt his communicator vibrate in his pocket – fishing it out to analyse it, he discovered a new message that had been sent to him.

'Hope you're not mad, I was just horny is all :P' read the message, sent by Snow. Tell me something I don't know, Hope thought, and sent a quick reply indicating that he would likely forgive him, but expected at least a cake in return. He smiled to himself and folded his communicator away again.

When he finally arrived at the determined location, he quickly scanned to make sure that there was nobody around – there wasn't – and sat himself down on the sand. It didn't look as beautiful as the beaches at Bodhum, but it would suffice. He checked his watch. He was right on time.

He lost himself, gazing into the horizon, admiring the setting sun. He'd seen most of what was worth seeing of the city when he was a child, but all of these familiar sights had taken on entirely new depth and meaning since he had helped 'save the world' two years ago. All of the buildings, all of the people, all of the sunsets and horizons – they truly wouldn't be here right now if he hadn't been there to save them. Or rather, if his friends hadn't been there to save them. Hope only really considered himself to have played more of a supporting role.

He had become so lost in his own thoughts, he did not at first register the stirring in the air and the sand around him. The zephyr became a breeze, and the breeze became a wind; the air itself got hotter and began to ripple and glisten, as though being seen through a film of water or a crooked piece of glass. Hope finally woke from his reverie, and rose to his feet.

The swirling of the air still grew, and concentrated into two human-sized vortexes in front of Hope. The sand was rushed up from the ground, twirling through the air and obscuring the view of the pillars of air they surrounded. An ominous humming sound grew louder, and the sparks in the air became more frantic and frequent, until eventually, all at once, like a magician's shroud dropping to the floor, the vortexes vanished and the sand was scattered once again to the ground. In their place, however, were the shapes of two new figures. Hope smiled.

'It's great to see you again, Hope!' called Vanille, looking no different to when he'd last seen her. She ran to give him a hug.

'And you too!' he responded, beaming with joy. Once they separated, he turned his attention to the second figure. 'It's good to see you too, Fang.'

'Likewise,' Fang smiled. She wasn't as much of the hugging type as Vanille had always been, but Hope could tell she was pleased to see him.

'Well I don't know about you two, but I'm starving!' cried Vanille. 'It feels like I haven't eaten in… what, three weeks?'

'Something like that,' agreed Fang. 'Do you have some plans for us then, Hope?'

'I know a great pasta place that I haven't taken you to before – very lovely people there. They don't turn anyone away; not even non-corporeal beings such as yourselves.'

'A shame,' replied Fang. 'It's been a while since I've been in a fight, and I was hoping for some action. But if everyone's going to be polite, then I suppose this will have to do.'

Hope smiled and led them off the beach, back into the heart of the city.

 **xxxxx**

 **xxxxx**

'I'm pretty sure this fusilli is fantastic,' said Fang. She'd been proceeding through her meal at a reserved pace, whereas Vanille, by contrast, had been devouring her food with the fervour of a rabid ceratosaur.

'Yeah, I come here a lot,' mumbled Hope. He'd made the mistake of trying to be daring and gone for one of the spicier options; he was now in the position of having to take a sip of water in between every bite just to keep the heat down. It was still very tasty, though.

'Oh you do, do you?' inquired Vanille with a suggestive tone that made Hope look up. 'Come here a lot on dates, perhaps?'

Hope blushed a little. 'Maybe once or twice,' he said cagily. 'Snow and I don't eat out very often.'

'Too busy rolling around in the sack, eh?' accused Fang playfully in her thick Pulsian brogue. She waved her fork in Hope's general direction and gave him a wink as she did so.

Hope blushed harder. 'I think I wouldn't like to talk about that,' he muttered, and kept his eyes fixed on his plate. Gods, that chili was burning.

'Go easy on him, Fang,' said Vanille. 'You know how Hope gets about these things.'

Hope appreciated the support, even if her defence was a little patronising.

'Aww, I'm only teasing him,' Fang chortled. 'But while we're on that note, I always did imagine that the sex between the two of you would be pretty exciting, so I wouldn't blame you if you didn't get out much and do anything else.'

'What do you mean?' asked Hope curiously, finally looking up.

'Are you alright Hope? You seem a little red in the face,' asked Vanille caringly.

Hope didn't break eye contact with Fang. 'I'm fine. The chili is very spicy. Fang, what did you mean?'

'Well, all I meant was,' Fang began, reclining theatrically in her chair, 'the two of you always did seem to have quite abrasive personalities. In a good way, of course,' she added, clocking Hope's raised eyebrow. 'The both of you could be the most caring, lovely, self-sacrificing people in the world, but you also both had the most potential to be aggressive and motivated by self-interest. In a good way!'

'I don't know what you mean,' Hope growled, taking another forkful of his food.

'And then there was all that tension between the two of you. I think everyone could see it was going somewhere,' Fang speculated.

'If you remember, that "tension" resulted in me trying to kill him,' added Hope.

'Precisely my point,' continued Fang. 'All of the most solid couples have tried to kill each other at least once.' She looked to Vanille and placed a hand on her shoulder, who in turn pursed her lips and folded her arms.

'Well, what can I say. Snow is a very attractive guy. We've certainly… had our fun, yes.' Hope was determined not to be embarrassed further, but he was worried as to where this was heading.

'So you've had sex, then?' pressed Fang. Vanille tutted at her audibly, but Fang ignored her.

'We've, we've...' stammered Hope. 'We've basically had sex, yeah. Loads of times, loads of times…' He shifted in his seat.

'But?' asked Fang.

'But… we've never gone all the way,' confessed Hope with a sigh. 'We've done basically everything else, but we've never… I don't know. I'm not sure why. At first Snow was worried I wasn't ready for it, I was very young, but I'm 16 now and I'm sure I'm ready but I don't feel like… I'm not sure I'd know how… I don't know,' he concluded, and feeling so embarrassed from having confessed such intimate details about his relationship he took a tremendous gulp from his glass of wine, which he otherwise had barely touched, and rested his head in his hands.

Fang seemed compassionate. 'It's true, I often forget how young you were. And still are,' she added. 'But you've changed an awful lot in that time. You're so much more confident in yourself. I remember when we met, you were terribly quiet – barely able to string a sentence together, and mostly kept your thoughts to yourself. Nothing like Snow. But then, I suppose that's just another way you complement each other.'

Hope remained silent. After a few moments, Vanille piped up. 'It seems this is something you're a little upset about… maybe you're just not all that attracted to Snow, physically?'

'Oh, it's definitely not that,' said Hope truthfully. 'He has a fantastic body. I'd noticed that from the day I met him. In fact I've always been rather…' He paused, a look of realisation slowly dawning on his face. 'I've always been rather jealous,' he concluded quietly.

'You have?' asked Vanille, tilting her head slightly to one side.

'Yeah… I hadn't even thought about it until now,' Hope continued, speaking almost as if in a trance. 'He was always so big, so able to protect other people, I guess… that sort of fascinated me. I wondered if I would be that big when I got older… and I am a bit older now, but I haven't gotten much taller… and it looks like I'm always going to be this skinny… and now, when I stand next to Snow, and compare myself to him, I just feel so…' he took a sharp intake of breath before his final word. 'Inadequate.'

'No, Hope, honey, you don't have to feel like that,' said Vanille, trying to comfort him. 'You're by no means inadequate.'

'But I've always felt that way,' Hope continued, the panging sensation in his stomach ringing true with his words. 'The problem isn't that he's not attractive enough to me; it's that he's so attractive that I wonder how in the world I could possibly compare… I look nowhere near as good as he does. He's just so… gifted. That's it. It's the reason we haven't had sex. I'm not sure I'm up to the challenge. I worry that he'll realise how unattractive I am and, and,' he tried to keep himself from sobbing, 'leave me for someone else.'

They continued talking at length – though it was mostly Fang and Vanille doing the speaking, attempting to assuage him. They each held one of his hands, and one key thing which Vanille kept reminding him of – which Fang concurred with – was that what was most important was that they loved each other. By the time they'd all finished up and left the restaurant, he was feeling quite a bit better. Hope considered himself lucky to have such friends.

'We're getting quite tired, Hope.' Fang genuinely did seem a little drained as the three of them strolled slowly down the boulevard, taking in the night air. Hope looked over at Vanille, who seemed tired too, but perhaps less wont to show it.

'We'd better get you back then,' said Hope regretfully. He wished they had more time together, as he wouldn't be able to see them again for weeks. It took a lot of energy to project themselves, however, in a physical form, out of their crystal stasis at the bottom of the world, so Hope appreciated the obvious effort that they put into seeing him.

'I'm thinking of trying a different hair colour for the next time we see you, Hope,' said Vanille when they'd gotten back to the beach. He knew she was just trying to keep his spirits up looking forward to their next visit though. He wasn't a child anymore.

'Just as long as it's not any brighter than the pink you already have,' smiled Hope. 'There is a reason we try not to draw attention to your little visits.'

'You're no fun,' Vanille grinned, and embraced Hope once more with a massive hug. 'Remember what we talked about. I hope you and Snow work things out. The two of you make such a wonderful couple and I just want you to be happy.'

Hope knew she was entirely sincere. 'Thank you. And thank you too, Fang,' he addressed the second female. 'Our little talk tonight has helped open my eyes a bit… even if that was unintentional.'

'Well, I share Vanille's sentiments,' said Fang. 'Keep yourself out of trouble. And remember to talk to him!'

'I will!' called Hope as the wind once again picked up around them. There were a few flashed of magical energy, the sand rose from the ground to envelop them both, and when it receded back to the floor again, the both of them were gone.

 **xxxxx**

 **xxxxx**

Hope walked home alone, feeling drowsy both from the food and from the revelations he'd had that night. What was important was that they loved each other, he repeated in his head. He knew that he loved Snow. And he was sure that Snow loved him. He just needed to remind himself of that.

When he got back to their apartment, from the darkness and the silence, Snow was predictably asleep. As Hope closed the door behind him, he noticed something on the kitchen counter directly in front of him – some sort of box, a package that hadn't been there when he left. With his curiosity piqued enough to investigate, he saw that it was a modest sized cake (chocolate fudge, which was his favourite), store bought. Hope melted inside – he had only been joking when he requested Snow buy him a cake; he must have known that, and yet he would've had to run out of the flat as soon as he got his message to buy this before the shops closed. The sweet, lumbering idiot.

Hope felt his way through the darkness to the hallway that led to the bedrooms. They each had their own bedroom – not having been a couple when they first got the place – and they still used their own rooms out of habit when the other was away. Tonight, however, Hope barely stopped to remove his shoes on his way into Snow's room, pushing open the door quietly, slipping under the covers next to his sleeping boyfriend and cuddling up against his large, warm body.

'I love you,' Hope mumbled into the covers, before falling straight asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

When Hope awoke the next morning, he instinctively reached over to Snow's side of the bed to cuddle him, but he wasn't there. He opened his eyes to check, but no – his side of the bed was empty, and there were no sounds coming from elsewhere in the apartment. He peered bleary-eyed at the clock at the side of the bed, which proclaimed it was 8:13. Snow must have already gone out to do some work. Hope rested his head back on the pillow and, without meaning to, fell asleep again.

When he did finally awake for the second time, it was now 10:25, and Hope felt a little guilty for sleeping in so late. Still, he must have been really tired. Perhaps the extra sleep was necessary.

Still yawning, he made his way over to the shower, casually undressing on the way. By the time he'd made it to in front of the bathroom mirror, he was wearing only his black briefs from yesterday. He brushed his teeth methodically, and then examined himself in the mirror.

At first he simply combed his hair with his fingers, scratched his face, examined a mark on his shoulder. After a few moments though, he remembered his revelation from the previous night. When he looked at Snow, he always saw the body of a demigod, of a top-ranking athlete, of an all-round stud. His muscles were well formed, his body so proportionate, his face so gorgeous, his cock so delicious. But when Hope looked at his own body in the mirror now… He saw a skinny runt. He ran his hands over his torso. True, he was a little more toned than he had been two years before, but he still wore small sizes in t-shirts, and even they could be a little baggy sometimes. He was also much shorter than Snow, still, and it looked as though he was always going to be. He had virtually no body hair, too – admittedly Snow didn't have very much either, but Hope had always found the small treasure trail of blond fuzz leading from his naval to his crotch to be quite a turn on.

Hope pulled forward the hem of his briefs and examined his own crotch. Perhaps what he considered to be one of his own greatest shortcomings was his penis; whereas Snow's was about nine inches in length when hard, his was only five. In fact, Snow's penis was bigger when soft than Hope's was when hard. He hadn't thought about this much before the previous night – he had always been so sexually attracted to Snow, so focused on his partner's body during sex, that he'd never thought to compare his own attributes to Snow's. And now that he was, it wasn't really obvious exactly what he was bringing to the table.

This made Hope feel somewhat sad. He clenched his fists in front of the mirror in frustration. He was determined not to let this get to him, though. He could easily make up for his shortcomings. He was not about to let Snow go, and so he vowed to prove himself as the best boyfriend he could be.

 **xxxxx**

 **xxxxx**

It was beginning to get dark again, and Hope was incredibly busy. He'd been working all day to get the place looking nice, tidying and cleaning the whole apartment. He'd vacuumed all of the floors, cleaned all of the surfaces, washed all of the clothes (which set him back about fifteen minutes more than he'd intended while he pleasured himself over a used pair of Snow's sexy boxers, but what Snow didn't know wouldn't hurt him), arranged some candles in the kitchen/living room and the bedroom, and was now preparing a chicken with some vegetables to roast in the oven. He'd just put the tray in and was wondering what to do next when Snow walked in through the door.

'Hey, this place looks nice,' he said with a note of pleasant surprise in his voice. 'What… what have you been up to, Hope?'

'Just thought I'd get the place looking extra-special for my extra-special boyfriend,' Hope replied flirtatiously. 'How was your day?'

'It was hell, actually,' said Snow languidly, hanging his favourite trench coat up on the rack next to the door. 'I had to get up at 6:30 this morning and drive the bike out for an hour just to get to McCready's, and I've been helping him and some others shift logs and concrete pretty much all day since then.' He stretched his arms and back out, and growled. 'Gods, I'm really sore now.'

'Then you just come with me,' said Hope excitedly. 'We've got plenty of time before dinner's going to be ready, and I know just how to make you feel great.'

'Whuh-?' Snow started before being taken by the hand and led into his own bedroom. He didn't resist. He was surprised to see more candles at the bedside, and flower petals distributed across the bedsheets.

'Get undressed, and lay face down on the bed. Get yourself comfortable,' Hope commanded. While Snow obliged, apparently too fatigued to question him, Hope fetched a bottle of massage oil from the drawer in his own room. This was going to be fun.

When Hope returned, he was treated to an enjoyable sight – Snow's pleasantly tanned body, laid out on the bed in front of him, and all his to play with. He unscrewed the cap of the massage oil, and prepared to apply some to Snow's back.

'This might be a little cold,' he warned. Snow mumbled a response, and then hissed a little when it was gently squeezed onto his naked back.

Hope started gently, spreading the oil out across Snow's impressive breadth, and began lightly kneading Snow's back. Snow himself started purring and groaning, which Hope took to be a pretty good sign. He worked his way right up to Snow's shoulders, and right the way down to his lower back, stopping along the way to give extra attention to any areas where Snow groaned extra loudly.

'Fuck, Hope…' Snow mumbled through the pillow. 'You're… you're really good at this…'

'You'd better believe it,' Hope replied, smiling with satisfaction at his own abilities. He took a moment to apply some more oil – this time to Snow's buttocks and legs. He climbed onto the bed in between Snow's legs for better balance and access, and continued working. The weather had been pretty hot all day, and now the movement and the candles dotted around the room were making him pretty warm. He removed his own black shirt and tossed it to the floor.

'You want me to do your feet as well, big boy?' asked Hope as provocatively as he could manage. Snow only growled in response, which Hope took to be a sign that he was performing his job well. He smiled to himself as he crouched and massaged each of Snow's large feet in turn.

After he'd finished, he suggested that Snow turn over so Hope could massage his front. Snow only gave an obliging grunt and rolled over onto his back. If the almost zen expression on his face wasn't enough to convince Hope that he was in serious pleasure, then the fact that Hope could now see Snow's dick, fully hard and resting flat against his stomach, surely was.

This time Hope started from the bottom up – he once again crawled between Snow's legs but this time applied oil and massaged his shins, worked his way up to his thighs – which seemed to make Snow groan particularly loudly, presumably because of all of the heavy lifting he'd said he'd been doing – then over his hips and up to his abdomen. Hope took great pleasure in squeezing the oil from a height onto Snow's muscular torso, making lines and shapes with it before lowering his hands and massaging it in. Rubbing his hands over Snow's muscles was also turning him on considerably – his own cock was throbbing in his pants, and he found it a genuine struggle to keep himself from whipping it out and stroking himself to climax over Snow's gorgeous frame.

'You can take 'em off, kid,' said Snow with a cocky smirk, looking down with one eye open at the pronounced bulge in Hope's pants. 'Those trousers of yours are pretty tight fitting and you look like you might burst out of them if you don't take 'em off.'

Hope blushed a little, embarrassed that Snow had noticed. He'd thought he'd had his eyes completely closed. Still, he couldn't fault his boyfriend's logic, so he unzipped his cargo pants and tossed them aside as well, feeling much less restrained now in just his sky blue briefs.

'That better?' growled Snow, the smirk on his face even more pronounced. Hope didn't want to give him the satisfaction of an answer, so he decided to shut Snow up by grabbing the man's cock firmly with one hand. It had the desired effect – Snow gasped loudly at the sudden unexpected pleasure, and arched his back slightly, moaning for more.

Hope smiled. Under the guise of running his hands directly up Snow's torso, he was able to bow his head nearer and nearer to Snow's crotch. Eventually he came to rest with his head right between Snow's legs, close enough to see every vein at the base of Snow's cock (which by now was as impressively hard as Hope had ever seen it), close enough to smell the scent of his manly hormones. Hope took a moment to admire both the view and the obvious need for more attention that Snow was emanating before leaning in and running his tongue over Snow's balls.

Snow grunted loudly and finally released the breath he'd been holding. The sensation of Hope's hot tongue licking every square inch of his balls was so pleasurable, so _exactly_ what he needed, he couldn't help himself from groaning continually and using his right hand to both stroke Hope's silvery hair and push his face even deeper into his crotch. Hope didn't mind this. As long as he could occasionally come up for air, he could happily spend hours running his tongue over Snow's nether regions – not a task to be taken lightly, either, considering Snow's balls were as big as eggs anyway.

After a couple of minutes of thoroughly enjoying himself, and enjoying the reactions he was eliciting from his boyfriend, Hope decided it was time to start working Snow's dick. Slowly – teasingly slowly – he ran his tongue up the very centre of Snow's balls, and didn't stop when he reached the base of his dick. He kept going, tasting the entire length, and ended by kissing the tip. Hope noticed with glee that Snow's fists were clenching the bedsheets, apparently in eager anticipation. He licked and kissed some more, before grabbing the dick at the base with one hand so as to stand it up in front of his face.

It really was pretty huge. Once again, Hope could imagine himself spending hours just playing with it, on top of the hours he could spend playing with Snow's balls. He gave it some more generous licking, rubbing it gently against his face. He knew what Snow really wanted though, so after a moment he put his lips to the tip and slowly engulfed as much of it as he could manage.

'Ahhhh… fuck, Hope…' Snow moaned, trying to resist the temptation to grab Hope's head again and shove him further down onto his dick. As it was, Hope was much better at taking more of Snow's length than when they had started dating, but even now he couldn't go as far as halfway down without gagging. Hot damn though, he was rapidly becoming an expert.

Hope took Snow's louder growls and moans as a good sign, and kept sucking his tremendous penis. When he finally needed to withdraw for air, he kept up the momentum by tugging it with both hands. It certainly was a two-hander cock. To keep it slick, he applied some more of the massage oil and continued stroking it ever more vigorously.

Snow was bucking his hips into the movement now, groaning with each thrust and making the bed creak. 'Hope, I'm… I'm close…' he panted, his eyes tight shut in pleasure.

Hope said nothing, but gratified Snow more by sucking his balls again whilst continuing to stroke his cock – he knew Snow liked having his balls played with while he came. Sure enough, Snow's moaning picked up in speed and intensity (louder than usual, Hope thought to himself) and after a moment came all over his own chest. He roared with satisfaction, and then with one powerful movement grabbed Hope's body with both hands and pulled him up, squishing his little body against his own, embracing him and kissing him aggressively. Hope himself moaned into the kiss, elated that he had given his boyfriend exactly what he needed.

'Looks like we're not finished yet, kiddo,' grinned Snow after they finally broke the kiss.

'What do you –' Hope started, before sitting up and realising that Snow was referring to the rock-hard bulge in his own pants, which had now accumulated a small patch of pre-cum at its tip. 'Oh, heheh, I guess I got pretty turned on. But we don't have to –'

But Hope was stopped mid-sentence again, this time because Snow had already lowered Hope's briefs with one hand and was pumping his dick with the other. It felt really, really intensely good. He hadn't realised how much he was longing for it, but he was so extraordinarily turned on that it was less than twenty seconds of attention that he needed before he cried out, unable to contain himself, and ejaculated his own load everywhere – hitting the bedsheets, the pillows, Snow's chest, his face and even the wall behind him.

It had felt so intense, Hope's body had gone almost numb. He could see stars before his eyes. It took several deep breaths before he was able to focus again and see Snow, looking up amusedly at him with one eyelid closed. 'Wow kid, you damn near took my eye out,' he chuckled.

Hope smiled a little, slightly embarrassed, and still dizzy from his orgasm. Snow clearly sensed this, and so guided him gently back down to lie on top of his chest, and started gently stroking his silvery hair.

'I love you,' said Snow staidly. Even in his languorous state, Hope knew that he was telling the truth. His boyfriend loved him.

 **xxxxx**

 **xxxxx**

Cleaning up was not an easy task. They used tissues to clear up what they could from the bed and the wall behind it – Snow made a joke that he felt like a hazmat officer conducting a clean-up operation, or perhaps a brothel owner resetting a room for the next client, which did not amuse Hope. Snow assured him he was only teasing, and kissed him on the top of his head.

They showered together – which was one of Hope's favourite pastimes, it being just another excuse to touch his boyfriend some more – and dried off. 'Dinner will be ready to come out of the oven in a few minutes,' Hope reminded Snow, checking his watch as he put it back on his wrist. He had gotten fully dressed again, but it seemed Snow had deemed a pair of white boxer briefs and a tight-fitting white t-shirt to be sufficient evening wear. Not that Hope was complaining, naturally.

The meal was delicious. Hope genuinely believed he had outdone himself in terms of his cooking, and, more importantly, Snow seemed to believe so as well.

'That was fantastic, Hope!' Snow exclaimed after he had finished his plate, which had been twice the size of Hope's. 'Really fantastic. Just what I needed, actually.'

'I'm glad to hear it,' said Hope, smiling with an inward satisfaction. 'Did you want any more? There's a bit left over.'

'Oh, no thank you,' Snow growled, pushing his plate away from him and rubbing his stomach. 'I might explode. But… maybe save it in the fridge for me tomorrow though?' he added sheepishly.

'Haha, you hungry beast. Yeah, I'll wrap it up for you,' Hope said, and left his seat to cover the remaining food in foil. Snow must have been surprisingly light on his feet for such a heavy man who'd just eaten so much food, though, because Hope didn't hear him also rise from his chair after a moment and creep across the room to give Hope a hug from behind. He enjoyed the sensation; Snow's arms were so big and warm…

'You've really been looking after me tonight, babe.' Snow was speaking tenderly into Hope's neck, which he kissed softly a few times before gently nibbling Hope's ear.

'Well someone has to,' Hope teased. 'Knowing you you'd probably forget to eat unless someone fed you.'

'Aww, you hurt my feelings,' whined Snow, feigning upset. 'Come on, let's go watch some TV.'

They spent maybe an hour relaxing and watching TV before Snow started yawning audibly, which seemed to trigger Hope to start yawning as well. When it was eventually time to head off to bed, the two of them seemed to be of one mind as they routinely brushed their teeth, undressed, turned off the lights in the rest of the apartment and so on. Hope was already in bed and his eyelids were drooping when he felt the mattress shift underneath him as Snow climbed in. He instinctively turned towards him and shifted a little closer to his warmth.

'You really gave me a nice evening tonight, Hope,' Snow mumbled as he reached his arm around Hope and stroked his side. 'The food was delicious, and the massage… damn, you were so sexy.'

'I was?' asked Hope, almost too gleeful to believe what he had heard. 'You really think so?'

'Of course!' replied Snow. 'I doubt there's anyone else in the world who can turn me on the way you do.'

Hope decided to probe this. 'Snow… I have to ask. It's been on my mind a little, and it's probably really stupid for me to ask, but… what exactly do you see in me?'

'Huh?' replied Snow, confused. 'What do I see in you?'

'Yeah,' said Hope, shifting up to rest on his elbow. 'I mean, when you and I got together… it was really me making the advance on you, and you just kind of went along with it, I guess. I guess what I'm saying is, I know what I find attractive about you, but… I just don't know what you would find attractive in me.'

'Are you kidding?' asked Snow with some incredulity. 'You're the sexiest guy I know, bar none. Physically and otherwise.'

'But I'm not!' Hope cried, losing face a little. 'You're this big, hunky guy, with stubble and a handsome face and a dick the size of an eggplant.'

'Well I'm flattered…'

'Shut up. What I'm saying is, you're so obviously attractive for all of those things, but… I don't have any of those things… I don't feel very, very attractive like that…' Hope started to well up, and Snow pulled him into an embrace.

'Hey, hey! Come on. Who ever said that muscles and stubble and whatever is what I'm interested in in other guys?'

Hope pulled away, a questioning look in his eyes. 'What do you mean?'

Snow's eyes widened a little as he realised the severity of what Hope was implying. 'Gods, Hope! You mean you really think, all this time, when I've called you sexy or whatever, that I've been joking? Or lying? Of course I find you attractive! But there's more to being sexy than being big and strong and…' he looked down at his crotch. '…Yeah. You're sexy… in a way that I'm not. In a way that turns me on.'

Hope didn't reply, but cocked his head curiously. This was all news to him.

'Fine,' said Snow authoritatively and sat up to turn on the lamp by the bed. 'If I have to spell it out… I normally don't say things like this, because I learned early on in our relationship that you got embarrassed when I gave you compliments.' It was true – Hope recalled Snow would often call him things like 'gorgeous' or 'sexy' or 'best boyfriend in the world', and each time it would make Hope feel squishy and weird. Sort of in a good way, but sort of like it was too much for him to hear. Snow continued: '…that said though, maybe it would have done us a lot of good if we'd talked about this before…

'First off, your dick isn't exactly small. It's a decent size. I guess mine is a _bit_ bigger than average, but there's no reason to compare them… I like yours, and wouldn't have it any other way. Also, you said you feel embarrassed about being skinny. But I like skinny. You don't have to be muscular to impress me or turn me on. I get a much bigger kick out of you being small-sized, and uh… easier to cuddle!' Snow was smiling happily. 'You have gorgeous hair, gorgeous eyes, and such a pretty face, and… _damn,_ such a nice ass.'

'…My ass?' Hope asked, looking downward as Snow moved his arm down to give the body part in question a stroke and a squeeze.

'Damn right. I suppose you wouldn't know what you look like from behind. But I can tell you for nothing, it's a sight I'd pay more than a few gil to see.'

'…I guess I'd never thought about that as being a "feature" of mine.'

'Honestly, it is. One of the nicest asses on Cocoon, I'd bet. It's so smooth, so round and pert, it just makes me… grr,' Snow concluded, giving another squeeze. 'And that's not all. An even more obvious way in which you "beat" me, if we're gonna compare, is the amount of cum you produce. I'd've thought that was pretty clear. Just look at how long it took us to clean up tonight, for instance.' Snow chuckled in a teasing way.

'Well yeah but… I didn't think that was a good thing… I've always been kind of embarrassed about it… making such a mess…' Hope shuffled guiltily.

'Damn kid, you don't need to be. I think it's _hot_. Serious.'

'Really?'

'You bet. I can't really explain it. It's like, it's a turn on to see how turned on you are, if you get me. And when you put the whole thing together, your slinky body and your cute face and your sexy ass, well… I mean, maybe it's not a "masculine" look exactly, but let's just say that masculine… isn't what I'm interested in, you dig?' Snow raised his eyebrow suggestively.

Hope couldn't believe it. He'd always been embarrassed, almost _ashamed_ to have such a feminine body. And now Snow was saying… that was something he actually found attractive?

'Come on Hope, you know what I'm like. You used to get at me for it all the time… always wanting to be the hero, always wanting to be in charge, always needing someone to protect, blah blah blah. Did it ever strike you that that's the same way I'd behave in a relationship? I don't need my boyfriend to be another hero – I need my boyfriend to be someone who needs me to be his.'

Snow must have gauged that he'd said enough, as he left Hope to think for a moment. It was true, he'd always seen Snow as being his hero. That much was clear. But he'd always felt like that was somehow one-sided, that something similar must have been expected of him. 'But then… if you're the big protective hero and everything…' Hope began slowly. '…What do I have to offer instead?'

Snow chuckled. 'Heroes need looking after as well, you know. Maybe just in different ways.'

Hope was beginning to understand. He cursed himself for his inexperience – he'd only known he was gay for about three years after all, and hadn't really had anyone to talk to about it. Gods, he barely knew how gay relationships were supposed to work. All he'd ever known was that he'd liked Snow – loved Snow – and that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with him. He'd never even really imagined how the mechanics of their relationship were supposed to function. He knew where he could get some advice, though – he made a mental note to make arrangements to visit a mutual friend of theirs.

'I think that's something I would be okay with,' said Hope, still getting his head around the idea that he could be wholly dependent on his lover without relinquishing his pride. 'In my head, I think it makes sense. I think it's something I want.'

'I'm glad you feel that way… but there's no rush, remember,' Snow reassured him, lying back down and folding his arms behind his head. Hope nodded in admission and climbed on top of Snow's chest, laying himself down and nuzzling his cheek into Snow's neck.

Hope lay there contentedly for a minute or so, and then smiled to himself as he felt something growing hard against his leg.

'Say, uh,' Snow mumbled sheepishly, 'you wanna go again?'


	3. Chapter 3

Hope checked his communicator, again, anxiously. No new messages.

He wasn't used to being in bars, and certainly not on his own. He'd been waiting for almost twenty minutes, and didn't feel comfortable approaching the bar by himself, despite now being of the legal drinking age in Palumpolum. He'd never ordered a drink for himself before. He wasn't even sure what he might like.

He happened to glance up at the door, and felt a rush of relief when he saw Yuj walking through. His electric blue hair was hard to miss, as well as his strikingly vivid dress sense. Hope waved a hand at him to call him over.

'So what're you having, Hope?' were Yuj's first words upon greeting him, not yet presenting Hope with the hug that he had risen from his chair to receive (Yuj hugged everybody, all the time). Instead, he had one hand resting on his hip and was pursing his lips and raising an eyebrow at the distinct lack of drink in the table in front of him.

'Oh, I'll just have a soft drink,' Hope said doubtfully, but no: Yuj seemed to have already decided for him.

'We're having cocktails. You're 16 now, time to start living the high life.' Without waiting for any resistance, Yuj started walking over to the bar, his hand already raking for money in a small satchel he was carrying. Hope sighed. He loved Yuj and his company very much, but he didn't know why he kept imagining it would ever be possible to have a 'quiet' night with him.

'Doesn't he want to see my ID? I'm not sure I have my ID,' Hope protested when Yuj returned some moments later and set a tall glass of ice and fruit and a yellowish-orange liquid in front of each of them, but it seemed that that was the last of his effort to protest. Gone.

Yuj had no problem summarily dismissing it, either. 'Pssh, not a worry for the hero of cocoon, dear. Practically everybody knows who you are. The guy at the bar wouldn't even let me pay for them when he realised. I imagine you're used to that sort of treatment around here, hmm?'

'I get quite embarrassed about it, to be honest. There are business owners all around the city who refuse to let me pay for stuff, but I don't want to feel like I'm mooching, you know… But then, some of them actually get upset if I don't visit often enough, and cry out in protest if I do try to pay! It's the same with Snow, too,' Hope added, a new line of thought coming to him. 'He wouldn't accept anything free from anyone, even on the first night of celebrations. The difference being, I suppose, nobody ever dared to argue with him when he put his foot down. Even now, the way he makes his living is so unassuming… he does manual work, leading teams of builders to help reconstruct things to the way they were before. And he doesn't take any more money for it than anyone else. He's so… proud, you know?'

'Honey, I was with him for more than a year in NORA before he met you – yeah, I know how proud he can be… but is it my imagination, or has he mellowed out a bit since, you know, the whole end of the world thing? I think that whole ordeal made him a little wiser.'

'Perhaps you're right,' said Hope thoughtfully. 'He can still be a stubborn ass, but not so much I can't like him for it I suppose. That always was my weakness.' He blushed slightly and smiled coyly.

Yuj must have noticed this. 'While we're on that subject, why exactly was it you wanted to meet me here, Hope? Normally I'm the one to schedule our little meetings. It sounded over the communicator like you had something on your mind. And I'm willing to bet my favourite shoes that "something" is 6'7", blond and has the personality traits of an excitable Jack Russell.' He took a sip from his drink artfully while maintaining an accusative focus on Hope.

'Ugh, fine,' Hope said moodily, cross about having to talk about it so soon. 'If we must talk about this now. Yes, it's me and Snow.'

'You guys are alright, aren't you?' Yuj quickly asked with genuine concern, taken aback by Hope's brash response.

'Yes, yeah, we're fine. I just… needed a bit of advice, you know. On guy stuff. And I figured you'd be the person to come to, you know, given how much you've been around.' Hope grinned cheekily, taking satisfaction in firing back for once. He could feel the alcohol swimming in his stomach already.

'You cheeky bitch.'

They were interrupted, however, by a finely dressed man carrying a pitcher and two clean glasses up to their table. He introduced himself as the owner. 'Some more drinks for you gentlemen – pitcher of sex on the beach, on the house of course.' He smiled and bowed away before they could even thank him.

'Gods,' said Hope, eyeing the volume of alcohol in front of them. 'I've not even finished my first one yet.'

'Well get a wriggle on, then,' Yuj replied. 'We've got a lot to get through, and it would be rude not to drink all of it, when he offered it so graciously…'

They spent some time chatting about how their lives had been going – Yuj with his fashion design, and Hope with his academic research. Apparently Yuj was about to receive his first big break with a catwalk event coming up in midsummer that would showcase a few of his designs, and Hope relayed about how well things were going in the department of technologies that he was informally studying / apprenticing in. Eventually, however, the conversation drifted back to their entire reason for being there – Hope's relationship with Snow.

'So you said that things are alright between the two of you,' proffered Yuj. 'But that you wanted some advice on "guy stuff". What would that be?'

Hope took a deep breath before responding, bracing himself for what was to come, but by now he'd almost finished his second drink and was certainly tipsy enough to discuss it. 'Sex. I want to talk about sex.'

Yuj clapped his hands together with excitement. 'Excellent! There's very few subjects on this world quite so titillating, I find. So how _is_ your sex life? I'm presuming the two of you have…?' He trailed off suggestively, making a vague waving motion with his hand.

'Oh, yes. I mean, we've done stuff. Plenty of stuff. But we've not gone, you know, all the way yet.'

'So I'm guessing, from what you're saying, that this would be your first time going all the way with… anyone?'

Hope shuffled in his seat a little. 'That's right.'

'Mhmm, mhmm,' said Yuj, frowning in concentrated thought. Then his eyes widened slightly as a new realisation struck him. 'Hope, I don't think we've talked about this before, but… have you ever done… _anything_ with another guy before Snow?'

Hope tried not to look uneasy. 'I… there was this one guy. Back in school, before the purge. I was 13. He was 16. The best basketball player in school, and everyone knew it. We kissed, one time… he later pretended like it never happened though. And that's all we did.' Hope looked up, and saw a look of curious sadness on Yuj's face. He'd never seen him look that way before. 'What is it?'

'Nothing, I just…' Yuj smiled plaintively. 'I sometimes forget how young you are.'

'I'm not young. Not anymore. I fought in the –'

'I know, I know… after all you went through, you've more than earned the right to be treated like a man. Maybe that's what makes it a little jarring when I think about… how much you've still got ahead of you, you understand.' Yuj reached forward and touched Hope on the hand caringly.

'I get it. I know I'm inexperienced. But the fact is, I've never really had anyone to talk about this kind of thing with… It was never a topic in school before the purge, and now with my studying at the academy, it's all so different… like having different kinds of friends. More like colleagues than friends, and they all look at me weird, like I saved the world so I should know all of this stuff, but they're all older than me anyway… and obviously my parents died so, so…' Hope was beginning to well up.

'Listen, listen, it's ok. We're friends. We can talk about anything you want. Right. Take a moment to steady yourself, I'm going to go powder my nose, and when I get back we're going to talk about more sex than you could ever have dreamed of.'

Yuj rose from his seat with a smile and strutted away to the bathrooms. Hope considered himself lucky to have him as a friend; he had no idea who he would talk to about this stuff otherwise. He looked around the room, at the coloured lights and the people drinking and laughing, and sipped more of his own golden-orange drink. Yes, he definitely liked this cocktail. He would need to remember that for the next time he was in a bar. Before long, Yuj had returned, and he tried to force his mind to drift back onto the topic at hand.

'Right then,' commenced Yuj, with the air of an imperious PI. 'Sex. Sexy sex. I'm guessing Snow's the top?'

'What's a top?'

Yuj didn't mask his blatant surprise quite soon enough. Hope scowled. 'Sorry, sorry. I'd better explain. Ok, um, the "top" is the one who… _does the penetrating_ , so to speak. Conversely, the bottom is the one who, who doesn't.' Yuj picked his words tactfully, but saw that Hope was still confused. 'I'm asking if he's gonna fuck your ass.'

'Oh, I, uh, huh.' Hope murmured a series of disconnected syllables that didn't really answer the question.

'I'm gonna take that as a yes. As if the fact that your first kiss was with the sexy older basketball captain and you're now dating a guy seven years your senior and at least double your size wasn't clue enough.'

'He wasn't the captain, he just –'

'First off, there's absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about,' Yuj continued, ignoring him. 'If you intend to be the receiver, so to speak, that doesn't mean you're the "girl" in the relationship, and it doesn't even mean you have to be the "submissive" one. It depends on your personalities, I guess. Which, judging from your blank expression, you haven't ever thought about before…' Yuj sighed, rubbed his eyes a little and took another hefty drink from his glass, circumnavigating the straw this time.

'Alright, I guess we'll just cover the mechanics of it all and you can work out the rest between the two of you. That's always the fun part anyway, I wouldn't want to spoil it for you.' Yuj winked knowingly. 'I guess the first thing I have to ask – and remember that however sensitive a subject this may be we're friends and can tell each other anything – do you masturbate anally?'

Hope choked on this drink that he was sipping from, and though no great harm was done it took several moments to stop spluttering. 'Wh-what?!' he finally managed.

'Come on, like I've said already, it's nothing to be embarrassed about. I'm just asking if, on your own, you've ever taken your fingers and –'

'Yes,' Hope admitted, though he was staring at the floor and had turned a distinct shade of puce.

'Well, that makes things easier. Um, strictly out of curiosity… do you think about Snow while you're…?'

'…I don't see how that's relevant.' Hope transcended from puce to plum.

'How cute. Does Snow know about that?'

'No. I guess I was kind of embarrassed about it.'

'Well he'd probably find it a turn-on, being the egotistical blockhead of a top that I'm sure he is. But never mind that. This is good, it means we're not starting from square one, so to speak. In that case, the first thing for you to bear in mind is not to be nervous. Having one thing shoved up there as opposed to something else isn't as much of a step up as you might imagine. There's very little reason to be worried about –'

'Actually, we might have a problem there,' Hope cut him off.

'What's that?'

'Well, it's Snow. He's… he's quite… well…' Hope eventually gave up on words, and held his hands out in front of him with around nine inches of suggestive space between them.

'Oh I see,' said Yuj shortly. He cast an apprehensive eye over Hope's small frame. 'Well, looks like someone's in for a bit of fun. I'll let you in on a secret. You remember Gadot?'

'Gadot? One of the other guys from NORA? Yeah, he does some work with Snow still. Why?'

'Well, the two of us have… had our history, shall we say. Not so much a relationship, but over the years, there have been some… mutually enjoyable… arrangements…'

'You mean like friends with benefits?' asked Hope, cutting Yuj short. 'I'm not completely naïve, you know.'

Yuj pursed his lips again. 'Yes, something like that. Well anyway, Gadot was also quite a… a _large man_ , so to speak. And yes, maybe it was a little more difficult getting used to it at first… but I like to think of it as like getting a new sweater. No matter what size it is, it's always a tight fit at first.'

'That's reassuring,' said Hope dubiously.

'You get used to it, of course. Honestly. It just might take a little practice. And given how horny I know the both of you are, I doubt that will be a problem.'

'Excuse me?'

'Oh, come on! Every time I come round to visit there's a half hour delay between me knocking on the door and you actually opening it to me, both of you looking dishevelled and red in the face when you eventually do. What's a girl supposed to think the two of you were getting up to?' He made a face and shrugged his shoulders in feigned innocence. Hope pretended to be oblivious, but didn't manage a very good job of it.

'Well anyway,' Yuj continued, 'the key things you have to remember have got to be lubrication, patience, more lubrication and more patience. And the state of your psyche can have an effect, too.'

'My psyche? What do you mean?' Hope frowned.

'Well, depending on your state of mind… it's possible to _will_ yourself into making it feel bad, if you think it's going to feel bad. Don't think of it as your body being invaded, thinking of it as letting in the man that you love. Just let yourself relax, and it'll feel good. But a good rule of thumb is: if you don't think you want sex, you probably don't want sex. It's all in the mind.'

'I'll try and bear all of this in mind…' Hope said wearily. This was an awful lot of information to take in at once, and even if he were given all of the best advice in the world, there was still one final niggling doubt at the back of his mind that he suspected would never be shaken. 'Yuj… there's one final thing. Perhaps the biggest worry of all. What if… what if I'm not any good?'

For a moment it flashed, like the glimmer of light off the surface of rippling water: that look in Yuj's eyes again, that look of realisation, of remembering how young Hope really was. 'Hope,' he said in the gentlest tone Hope had ever heard him use, 'there's no way to instruct someone on how to be "good" at sex… but half the job is being a caring, attentive lover who listens to his partner and aims to give them what they want. And besides all that – I've seen how Snow looks at you. Babe, I don't think it would make the slightest difference to his opinion of you whether you were the best in the world or the worst.'

 **xxxxx**

 **xxxxx**

Hope was enjoying the walk home. Yes, summer was definitely on its way – it was 8pm and the sun was only just setting in the sky. He felt so much better now, like it was such a _relief_ , a relief of _physical burden_ , to have spoken with Yuj about those things. He supposed that maybe, he had felt sort of _alone_ before, with nobody to talk to about it, which made him feel like he was the only gay man in the world. But with Yuj to talk to (and talk they did, extensively – the latter half of their meeting was him basically recounting all of his past lovers and flings to Hope; how he met them, how good they were in bed, and why he didn't regret any of them, even the bad ones), oh, with Yuj to talk to it was like a lifeline into a whole other world, reminding him that other gay men did exist and had all been through the same ordeal and no, he was definitely _not_ alone.

He'd ended up drinking a little less of the pitcher than Yuj had. He didn't want to be drunk, and besides, his tolerance for alcohol was less than Yuj's anyway. He felt quite gloriously tipsy now though, feeling like his fears had been allayed, feeling like the world was less of a scary place, feeling like he was 16 and nobody could tell him what or what not to do…

Feeling like he needed Snow, too.

It was true, he hadn't really been thinking about anything else for the last four hours. He'd missed Snow again before he left that morning, and so hadn't seen him all day. He was surely at home right now, unwinding after a long day of work, flipping through a magazine or watching TV. He might even be naked. Yep, probably naked. Hope couldn't wait to get home. He just wanted to be in his arms, and his day would be complete. There was nothing more he wanted right now.

It seemed like far too long before he was finally walking into his building, finally ascending the stairs, finally approaching his door and turning the key in the lock. The rush he then felt of relief, of yearning, of joy at seeing Snow sitting there on the sofa was virtually indescribable.

'Hey kid, you alright?' Snow looked up from the magazine he was reading and stared straight into Hope's eyes. Hope knew that other people asked questions like that in a phatic sort of way – like they're asking if you're alright just to be polite, and are not actually interested – but one thing that Hope had learned about Snow from their time together was that he was always, always interested.

Hope didn't answer at first. He just surveyed his boyfriend. Sitting there. Looking perfect. He was almost right in his guess, in that Snow was almost naked – he was naked except for a pair of his trademark white boxer briefs, large in size but still tight enough to show off a pretty impressive bulge. Snow had never looked sexier. And he thought that Hope was sexy too. There could only ever be one, very obvious consequence of two people finding each other to be irresistibly sexy, and that was what Hope wanted. Right now.

'I feel great,' said Hope, finally. 'I feel more comfortable than I have in ages. And all I want is you.' Snow had a look of slight surprise on his face when Hope shrugged off his jacket and discarded his boots and climbed on top of him. Hope wanted to be as close as he could, have as much of his body be in contact with his boyfriend. He buried his face in the crook of Snow's neck, and Snow put his arms around him protectively, just like he'd wanted. With one eye open, Hope watched his own hand trace its fingers over Snow's pecs, and over the valleys and lines between his abs, around his bellybutton, down to the waistband of his underwear and then back up again.

'Sounds like someone had a good night. I was thinking about you, you know. While you were gone. Thinking about how happy I am with you, and how I don't want it to stop. I want to be with you forever, Hope.' Snow spoke softly and calmly, and it was too much for Hope to bear. He leaned up so that he could look at Snow face to face.

'Take me,' he said.

'What'd you say?'

'Take me,' Hope repeated. 'I need you. I'm ready. I want you inside me.' His facial expression was one of cosmic repose.

'You're… you're sure?' Snow asked, not because he doubted Hope had thought it through, but because this had come so suddenly he could barely believe it.

'I'm sure,' Hope said. He stood up, took Snow by the hand, and led him to the bedroom.

 **xxxxx**

 **xxxxx**

'I'd… better fetch that lotion again,' said Snow, unaware if Hope was even able to hear him, so coolly and deliberately was he unbuttoning and removing his clothing. It was a very arousing sight. He tore his eyes away long enough to leave the room and locate the bottle of lotion, knowing that they would need it, and reminding himself that if this was something Hope really was ready to do, he had better go slow. Horny as hell he may be, but if he ruins the kid's first time he might not be so willing to try it again.

When he returned, he almost dropped the lotion in stupefaction. Hope was lying on the bed, slinky and feminine, totally naked, writhing slightly, using one hand to trace a finger over his nipple and the other hand, thrust between his legs, to gently probe his own entrance. His eyes were closed and his mouth was open slightly in pleasure of anticipation. After a few moments of taking the scene in totally stunned, Snow looked down – yep, sure enough, his dick was as hard as a broomstick.

'Snow, please…' Hope purred. Snow had heard Hope when he was turned on, but never quite like this before. It had an almighty effect on him. 'Please… take me…'

'Slow down, kiddo,' Snow said, stripping off his boxers and throwing the useless garment across the room. 'One thing at a time.' He kneeled down at the foot of the bed where Hope was playing with himself, who instinctively raised his legs a little for Snow's inspection. Snow moved in closer, taking in Hope's scent, admiring his hairless hole and pert little balls and fully hard cock, already leaking a copious amount of precum.

'S-Snow? What are you – ah!' Hope cried out in surprise as Snow, with no warning, leaned in and ran his tongue over Hope's entrance, up over his balls and finally his cock. The stimulus was amazing, and the added feeling of then being wet and having Snow's warm breath falling onto his skin, well – it was heaven. 'Please…' he begged. 'More… more here…' He cupped his balls with one hand and raised them slightly, giving Snow better access to his hole.

'With pleasure,' Snow complied, and spent the next several minutes rimming Hope like a champion. Hope loved every moment of it: sometimes Snow was gentle, sometimes probing, sometimes fast and aggressive; it all just felt so good. He kept panting and sighing in pleasure, unable to help himself. When Snow used his arms to hold Hope's legs back further, it made him moan louder. It was just so _intimate_ – having the man he held so much affection for basically shoving his face into the most private part of his body.

'I'm gonna start getting you ready, babe,' Snow crooned, barely lifting his face from his lover's body. Hope just murmured his assent, nodding slightly, his face flushed from the passion of it all. Snow grinned inwardly, and – as gently as he could – probed Hope's entrance with one finger, massaging it at first and then slowly slipping it in.

Hope gasped in surprise at the feeling, trying to remember the advice that Yuj had given him – allow himself to relax, he wasn't being invaded, this was the man he loved massaging him from the inside – and managed to settle into it. Before long, he realised he was subconsciously bucking his hips up at Snow, asking for more. When the second finger was slid in, he opened his eyes and moaned again at this fresh sensation, more intense than before, and just what he felt he needed.

'Gods, kid,' said Snow. 'You're making me want to fuck your brains out right now. Uh, in a loving way, I mean.' He kissed Hope lightly at the top of his leg to show his non-threatening intentions. Hope giggled.

Snow eventually inserted a third finger, which this time didn't feel like as big of a step up, and didn't require much getting used to on Hope's part. After a while, Snow figured that Hope was likely as ready as he was going to be. 'I think you might be nearly ready, Hope,' he said, hoisting himself up and over his lover's body, bringing their faces closer, and still keeping his fingers inside him. 'Do you feel like you're ready?'

Again, Hope remembered Yuj's advice. Did he feel ready? Did he feel in the mood? Yes, he did.

'I'm ready,' he replied, as softly and seductively as he could manage. He leaned upward to kiss Snow, slowly and passionately, and took advantage of evidently catching Snow off guard by grabbing his engorged member. This apparently didn't go unnoticed – Snow growled into the kiss, and thrusted his hips abstractedly into Hope's receiving hand.

While still kissing Hope, Snow blindly found the bottle of lotion with his hands and applied a generous amount to his generous cock; Hope helped him spread it up and down the length. Once it was nice and slick, Hope took the bottle from Snow and squeezed some onto his own fingers, which he inserted into himself and moved around so as to provide as much lubrication as was possible. He figured he would thank himself later.

'Ok,' said Snow soothingly, 'I'm… I'm gonna start putting it in. Let me know if it's too much, or if I'm going too fast. I'll try not to –'

'Stop treating me like a china doll and just fuck me,' Hope commanded impatiently. Snow grinned.

Snow leaned over Hope once more, bringing him into a kiss, and Hope raised his legs and wrapped them around Snow's waist. He also wrapped his arms around his lover's neck, wanting to be as close to him as he could, wanting to embrace him fully and be embraced in return, wanting to feel Snow inside of him. If there were any doubts left in his mind as to whether this was the sexual role he wanted to play, they were definitely gone now.

As they kissed, Snow expertly gripped his cock and rubbed it against Hope's ass, up and down, pressing the head around and against the entrance, teasing the both of them and building anticipation. Finally, with enough pressure, the head slipped in – Hope broke the kiss to cry out, partly from pain and partly from pleasure, and Snow used to opportunity to nip Hope on his exposed neck, partly from lust and partly by way of apology. Snow let Hope get used to the sensation before sliding in another couple of inches, which made Hope cry out again and grip the bedsheets tensely with both fists.

'You okay, babe?' asked Snow, highly conscious of his partner's wellbeing.

'Yes… yes, it's good, but… ahh… you're so big…' Hope pulled Snow back into a kiss, and bucked his hips again to indicate when was ready for more. Snow slid his cock in a little further, so that about half of the whole length was inside Hope now. When he deemed that the resistance pushing against him had subsided, Snow gently pulled back so that only the head remained inside his lover, and then pushed again so they were back to the same position. Hope gave a whimper – so this was what it was like to be fucked.

It felt pretty good.

Snow continued a steady motion, gradually picking up in pace, and Hope revelled in the rush of sensations he'd never felt before – he felt that he was giving himself up, putting all of his trust in his boyfriend, and that was exactly what he'd wanted to be able to do for years. The sensation of having Snow inside him was foreign, unusual, but not unpleasant – certainly something he could get used to – and although Snow was occasionally thrusting into that magical spot he'd heard about which made him feel giddy and euphoric, he was getting just as much psychological pleasure from the thrill of being able to physically satisfy his partner.

'Snow, you… you don't have to hold back,' Hope managed to stammer between pants. 'I can take it… I want to take it all…'

'If you say so, babe,' Snow replied, beads of sweat now forming sexily on his chest and face, and plunged his entire length into Hope, who screamed in pain, pleasure and triumph. He had taken on Snow's enormous dick and won.

Sweating himself now, from the heat and the effort, Hope waited for the stars before his eyes to dissipate and begged Snow to fuck him more, faster and harder. He found himself moaning loudly and involuntarily, crying 'yes', panting Snow's name – completely unable to help himself. Snow picked up the pace, grunting and moaning as well now, obviously having a fantastic time.

'Fuck me Snow, ah, oh, yes, fuck me!' Hope cried out, vigorously running his hands over Snow's muscly body, over his arms and his chest and his back.

'Fuck yes!' Snow roared in primal pleasure, and knelt up, pulling Hope by the hips into his lap. He threw his head back like an animal and thrust into Hope ever more aggressively, using his hands to pull Hope's ass back onto his cock with every thrust. This new angle stimulated Hope's prostate even more intensely, and he felt his hand instinctively reaching for his own cock, which was as hard as it had ever been and was leaking precum all over his pale, slender stomach. He stroked himself aggressively to the same rhythm that Snow was pounding him at, and the combined sensations were almost overwhelming. The bed creaked loudly beneath them, and their confluence grew and grew in intensity until Hope realised he was reaching the point of no return, could feel himself reaching the most powerful climax he could ever remember experiencing, and then –

'Ahhhh!' he screamed, releasing his pent up tension and lust, spraying an impressive load horizontally over his own body and vertically up Snow's. Snow growled in excitement, and released a final few almighty thrusts into Hope before discharging his own load deep into him. With this done, he gently rocked his still-hard cock inwards and outwards, slowing down in pace, before collapsing onto the bed on top of his lover.

'That… was the best…' panted Snow, his long blond hair matted down to his face from the sweat.

'Don't… take it out just yet…' said Hope, his own hair similarly matted. 'I like… the feeling…'

Snow embraced him, and the two shared a hot and passionate kiss. 'So… what did you think, Hope? How was your first time?' Snow asked, with his trademark grin, once they'd regained their breath and cooled down a little.

'It was… amazing!' Hope exclaimed truthfully. 'I got kinda worried about it before, but… I honestly never realised it could feel so good…'

'Haha, that's good to hear,' Snow said, and rolled the two of them over so that Hope was resting on his chest. 'I'm exhausted now.'

'Me too,' Hope replied. 'We'd probably better get some rest. I'm going to want sex a lot more tomorrow. You're not working, are you?'

'Not now I'm not,' Snow laughed, and gently stroked Hope's hair. 'I love you, Hope.'

'I love you too,' Hope replied. He felt tremendous.

After years of a difficult childhood, of not fitting in, of being so unlucky and getting involved in the purge, seeing his mother die before him and have huge responsibilities thrust onto him, seeing his father then die too and have to struggle on his own at the academy, after having to fight tooth and nail for everything he ever had, he felt like he'd finally caught a break, something important had finally gone his way, and he couldn't remember ever being happier.

 **xxxxx**

 **THE END**

 **xxxxx**

 _ **So there we have it! I hope you enjoyed this fic; it was my first one uploaded to the site. Please let me know what you thought, and, given enough support, I have a few ideas for some "sequel" shorts set in the same world that I could follow this up with... Thanks for reading!**_


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